News Corp/Rupert Murdoch wants a PPV online news cartel

Media giant News Corp. is holding talks with other newspaper publishers on forming a consortium that would charge for news online and on portable devices, The Los Angeles Times reported.

The newspaper said News Corp.’s chief digital officer, Jonathan Miller, is believed to have met with representatives of The New York Times Co., Washington Post Co., Hearst Corp. and Tribune Co., publisher of The Los Angeles Times…

News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch said earlier this month he would begin charging readers of online versions of his newspapers in the coming year.

News Corp already charges for its Wall Street Journal website and claims it is the most successful paid news site on the Internet.

Other Murdoch papers include the New York Post, The Times of London, the Sun and The Australian, among others.

It said a payment platform would go online in the fall which would allow subscribers to access paid content at the websites of the affiliates using a universal Journalism Online account.

Does it matter that this violates anti-trust regulations in most Western democracies? Yes, the Web lives independent of national laws in many cases. But, I doubt if commerce and access to information would be exempt from regulation.

Like anyone who favors a corporate trust – in this instance a newspaper trust online – the Prime Minister wants to be king. Murdoch thinks he should be the Boss of Bosses in this Mafia..